Nasa bansa ngayon si Francsco Martin, ang Filipino-American singer na naging American Idol season 18 finalist.
First time niyang makarating sa Pilipinas, kung saan isinilang ang kanyang mga magulang na sina Jon Dijamco at Fatima Martin
First time rin niyang mag-perform sa harap ng kapwa Pilipino sa Manila.
Ang kanyang main event ay ang Miss Universe Philippines grand coronation night na gaganapin sa Sabado, April 30, 2022, sa SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Aware si Francisco na mataas ang interes ng mga Pilipino sa beauty pageants.
Aware din siya na dalawang Pinay, sina Pia Wurtzbach at Catriona Gray, ang nanalo ng Miss Universe crowns noong 2015 at 2018, respectively
Aniya, "Yeah actually growing up, like… I know about Pia and I know about Catriona Gray and all that.
"It’s very exciting, I feel like it’s a very big part of our pride in the Philippines and our culture."
Nakapanayam si Francisco ng piling Philippine press kasama ang PEP.ph (Philippine Entertainment Portal) sa isang intimate merienda sa Okada Manila na ipinatawag noong Martes, April 26, ng Miss Universe Philippines (MUP) at Empire.PH ni Jonas Gaffud.
Dalawang kanta ang kanyang inihanda, at isa na rito ay ang "Stay," na sinadya niyang isulat para sa mga Miss Universe Philippines 2022 candidates.
“I was kinda semi-nervous to write this song because I didn’t know what I was getting myself into knowing that I don’t know much about the pageant and like pageantry in general.
"But I kinda just went with my gut like I know as an artist, I’ve always believed in my songwriting and my production, so I kinda just want little hints of me in the song to kinda cater to the event.”
A SONG FOR PINAY BEAUTIES
Limang oras daw ang ginugol niya at ng road manager assistant na si Nick Sapra sa kanyang apartment sa Los Angeles, California, para matapos ang "Stay."
Aniya, “It’s kinda about like what the pageant is like, it’s about beauty.
“I really hope the audience would really love the song.
“I hope that everyone kind of listens to the song and feels good about themselves and dances around.
“It is a very love-y kind of pop song. I put in a lot more tempo, which is different from my previous sounds, which is more acoustic and slow.
"And I’m very excited to showcase that for the first time. It’s like they never heard this type of music from me before. We’re really excited to show it.”
Aminado naman si Francisco na wala siyang gaanong alam tungkol sa mga beauty pageants, kaya nanood muna siya ng mga videos bago isinulat ang Stay.
“I watched videos prior to writing the song, when I was given the opportunity to write the song, like different videos of Miss Universe in the past.
“I’m very much aware of these beautiful women walking on the runway and all that stuff, and I just kinda like to embody what that meant in a song, so I kinda took that.
"And I listened to a couple songs that artists have been singing in the past Miss Universe performances, and I kinda went with that and wrote the song with my co-collaborator, and then I sent it to Jonas and they liked it so I’m here.”
SINGING IN FRONT OF PINOYS: "PURE JOY"
Ang talent manager na si Carlo Orosa ang gumawa ng paraan upang maimbitahan ng MUP Organization si Francisco.
Magkaibigan sa Facebook sina Carlo at ang ina ni Francisco.
“It was a mixture of, it started up with Carlo. He reached out to my parents, actually, they just randomly like came in contact on Facebook, and asked if I would like to do this thing.
“My parents showed it to my manager in the States, and she got in contact with Jonas and Carlo, so that’s kinda how everything went together.
“It was a mix of like my team and their team, so both of them worked together to get me here.”
Ayon pa sa 21-year-old performer, super excited siyang mag-perform sa harap ng mga kababayan.
“I have no words, I’m speechless. I feel just pure excitement, pure joy, and kind of just ready to get on stage and sing for the ladies.
“I feel like doing something like this, to be invited to something like this, I feel very grateful and lucky to be chosen to do this and to be part of the big night, especially for the biggest portion of the show.”
Dadalo sa gabing iyon sina Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach (Philippines), Miss Universe 2016 Iris Mittenaere (France), at Miss Universe 2019 Demi Leigh Nel-Peters (South Africa), na magsisilbing mga host ng nasabing event.
Nasa bansa rin ang reigning Miss Universe na si Harnaaz Kaur Sandhu (India) na isa naman sa mga judges.
Ang 2022 Miss Universe Philippines coronation night ay may live streaming sa ABS-CBN Entertainment YouTube channel, sa VOD platform na iWantTFC, at eere naman ng GMA-7 sa May 1, 9 a.m.